Report: Federal Agencies Not Listening to Inspectors General

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March 5, 2013

Nearly 17,000 recommendations from in-house government watchdogs are not being fully implemented, according to a new report from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. If all of those inspectors general (IG) recommendations were implemented the government could save $67 billion, according to an article in The Washington Post.

The article quoted the report as saying savings could be even higher once the changes are implemented.

These figures reflect the most conservative possible accounting of the number and dollar value of the IGs’ open and unimplemented recommendations. It is likely that both totals are significantly higher.

POGO has long been calling for strengthening agency IGs to help fight fraud, waste, and abuse in government. Last week we blogged about another recent report that highlighted the need for permanent IGs that are confirmed by the Senate instead of acting IGs. Currently, there are eight federal agencies without a permanent IG. Find out which agency hasn't had an IG for five years with the Project On Government Oversights's "Where Are All the Watchdogs?" database.

Read the full Washington Post article for more on what agencies are doing to implement IG recommendations.

Topics: Government Accountability

Related Content: Waste

Authors: Andre Francisco

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